This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

The Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Africa panel discussion was hosted on April 10th at the African Union Representational Mission, Washington D.C. The discussion aimed to introduce blockchain and cryptocurrency to the Diaspora and African delegates in town for the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF. During the discussion, issues including defining what is blockchain and cryptocurrency, how blockchain changes the nature of money , a forecast of the development of blockchain and cryptocurrency in Africa, the impact of government regulations, current barriers to the use of these technologies and many other issues were brought up. Cryptocurrency is internet-based money not bound by geography; transactions are stored in a database called a blockchain , a group of connected computers that record transactions in a ledger in real time. Many experts say the conditions on the African continent are great for cryptocurrency. Interest in cryptocurrency in Africa keeps incre

April 17th saw the release of a second set of guidance for the “Opportunity Zone” (OZ) program. As we noted in testimony to the IRS on February 14th , we remain concerned that the OZ program diverts needed tax revenue from public purposes and places this revenue in the hands of a mainly wealthy and white demographic unrepresentative of the US population as a whole. As the Hill Newspaper noted, the program has "drawn criticism from those who argue it will primarily benefit wealthy investors rather than residents of low-income neighborhoods." Today's regs do nothing to change this concern. The regs released today benefit Opportunity Zone Funds (as opposed to residents). These funds are the financial vehicle used to make investments in Opportunity Zone areas. Today's regs are "designed to make it easier for funds to ensure that they are complying with a requirement that they have 90 percent of their assets invested in opportunity zones." In other words, the

The following lists some of the Black women working for VC firms. While we think this is a good sign, remember - the problem is with the VC model itself, not with the color or gender of the people who populate the firms. You're still not going to be able to get money from these firms unless you fit the demographic they prefer. See: Small Business Financing, Black People and Venture Capital Black Woman VCs (click on their name to be taken to their Crunchbase profile...or look them up on LinkedIn.) Jacqueline Grant Principal, Abingworth Karen Kerr Executive Managing Director GE Ventures Nicole Walker Partner, Venture Capital – Healthcare Baird Capital Candice Matthews Co-Founder and Executive Director Hillman Accelerator Tracy Gray Founder and Managing Partner The 22 Fund Abyah Wynn Co-founder and Managing Director Twenty65 Fund Monique Idlett-Mosley Managing Partner Reign Ventures Erica Duignan Minnihan Founding Partner 1000 Angels and Re

Following our successful 2018 webinar, we are pleased to announce the launch of our latest online class, " How to Finance a Black Women-owned Business in 2019." The class is hosted on Udemy, "the leading global marketplace for teaching and learning. Udemy helps organizations of all kinds prepare for the ever-evolving future of work." Their "curated collection of top-rated business and technical courses gives startups, companies, governments, and nonprofits the power to satisfy entrepreneurs' hunger for learning and development." Our efforts are a fresh approach to providing targeted, up-to-date information in this space. Black women have continued down this path of entrepreneurship. According to one report, "the number of businesses created by black women in the United States alone is up more than 460% over the last 20 years, making them the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the nation." Of course, we've known this for some time,